Optimizing Your Twitter Background

In business, the name of the game is recognition. Business cards carry a logo or image that piques interest and makes you the one people remember. Today, instead of merely exchanging cards and numbers with peers, people are turning to the mega success of social media to make business connections and gain an audience.

At this point, there is no need to tout the benefits of Twitter. If you’re not using it yet, get on board now and start tweeting your thoughts, your ideas, your favorite quotes, and maybe a coupon or two for your business. But don’t just do it; do it with style.

Think of your twitter background as your business card design. Under Twitter Settings, there are template designs that can be used to spruce up your profile. But why stick with status quo when you can outdo the competition. On Twitter, you are building a following. Those who follow your tweets may visit your page a time or two. And when they do, why not give them a glimpse into what your business is all about? Using photographs, patterns or a business card style background, your profile can stand out when others will be forgotten.

There are a few ways you can add photos to your Twitter background. One, you can use a background generator like Twilk. This online generator takes your friends’ profile photos and turns them into a collage background for your profile. While this can be fun, it doesn’t do much for branding your own business.

To really do up a profile that you can customize to your business, all you need is a little help from Photoshop and a bit of imagination. Using a Photoshop image, the left hand side of your Twitter profile can be set up with your logo, business card image, or custom graphic that changes right along with any special deal you may be running at the moment.

Filling the entire background with one large image is a possibility if you have Photoshop. Filling the background is best done with an image sized at least 1280×1024 pixels in size, preferably larger. Depending on the background and whether or not it can be nicely blended into a solid background color or not, sizes from 1600×1200 and even up to 2048×1600 for some backgrounds is recommended.

Not up to speed with Photoshop? That’s ok. You can still create an eye-catching Twitter background by uploading any image that you have taken, it just might take some resizing to get it to show up just the right way. Another option using photos is to Google search “tile background”; doing this will result in thousands of downloadable background options. You can show off the nature lover lurking inside of you, or display an image that compliments your business.
Your Twitter background has the ability to work for you just like a business card or brochure does. Utilize the space on the left side, and even a bit of the top of the page, to promote something, anything pertaining to your business or service. Creating a professional-looking Twitter background makes a stellar first impression and will help you pick up followers simply because you have caught their attention when so many other profiles failed to create interest.
Your profile may only be seen by one person one time, but the result could very well be worth any time and effort you have put into your profile creation. Now multiply that by all of the “one persons” who may view your profile only one time and consider the possibilities! Get creative, have fun, and start tweeting!

All About Hashtags

One thing is certain: the internet world is constantly changing. This is the challenge for those of us who make a living utilizing its power. But as we keep up with the latest trends, we can come across interesting ways to capitalize on the social media front.

One example of change on the web is Twitter. Seemingly, this social site came out of nowhere and jetted right to the top of the popularity list. There are all sorts of people on Twitter, tweeting about anything and everything that comes to their minds. While many Tweeters are there strictly for social purposes, there seems to be a strong emergence of business people treading their way through the Twitterdom.

Hashtags were created to create groupings within the site; an organizational tool of sorts. They are a popular way of getting focused attention to your Tweets. Additionally, you can search hashtags to find tweets that are relevant to research you may be conducting, or just relevant to what you want to know about. For instance, if one would like to find tweets relating to article marketing, you can perform a twitter search for all tweets specific to that by searching “#article marketing”.

If you look further into the use of hashtags, you will discover that they have somewhat of a limited fan base at the moment. While their was a surge in popularity for a time, as well as a usefulness, overuse by some has caused popularity to wane. During the 2007 San Diego wildfires, hashtag use was instrumental in alerting the public to current events. They also were used as a call to action on the part of emergency services. This shows just how useful hashtags can be.

When considering the use of hashtags in your Tweets, it may be worth the time to perform a bit of research to see if your particular keyword is already being used in a hashtag thread. As you use hashtags, the key is to use them sparingly and to use them when you really want something to be followed. By looking around a little bit on Twitter, it is easy to find users who hashtag just about every Tweet they type. Really, nobody wants to read “I had the most amazing #chocolate #milkshake from #Carl’s Jr. today!”
Remember, Twitter asks a simple question: “What are you doing?” Answer the question; use natural keywords, use hashtags sparingly when you really want to drive home a point or call attention to something. Some of the things that hashtags are good for are emergency situations or natural disasters, as proved in 2007. Hashtags can also be used when tweeting quotes from others. “Highly developed spirits often encounter resistance from mediocre minds.”~Albert Einstein #quote
Hashtags may have their place, but Twitter IS a social media site directed at fulfilling peoples’ curiosity about one another in the here and now. Part of using social media in your business is to gain visibility…and familiarity. Overuse of hashtags can make your posts seem aimed not at the individual, but at the inner workings of the site itself.

Don’t lose sight of the other benefits of social media marketing. Pairing high touch with high tech is the way to build an enormous following. Hashtags, used sparingly, can be a part of your Twitter life, but shouldn’t take over the personal touch.